White Charcoal is made from just what you think it might be; wood, and yet is unlike regular charcoal in just about every other way. As tradition dictates, the best quality branches are individually selected from slow growing, hard wood trees in the mountain forests of Japan and Korea. These forests are maintained by craftsmen who harvest from them in such a way that new branches are encouraged to grow. These new branches adsorb higher levels of CO2 than their predecessors, giving greater benefit to the surrounding environment and providing a plentiful harvest for the craftsmen. Different types of wood are chosen for different jobs; Binchotan is made from hard Japanese Holm oak whilst Hakutan pieces are Korean oak. Bamboo is used too and Red pine needles make an especially gentle quality Charcoal that Sort Of Coal use for Kuro Powder, which is designed to be eaten. The natural minerals that the trees adsorb as they grow are trapped inside the White Charcoal when it is made and later released into drinking water, the skin or where the White Charcoal is used.

Our White Charcoal is made using the same techniques and processes that have been used for centuries. In this ancient Japanese method pieces of wood are baked in handbuilt clay kilns, slowly at first and then at extremely high temperatures with restricted oxygen. This allows carbon to be captured in the wood, a process called pyrolysis. Perfecting the difficult ritual of burning requires patience and dedication so its fitting that the people who make White Charcoal are artisans and often come from a long line of charcoal makers. Their knowledge and expertise is handed down from generation to generation; the craftsmen know exactly which wood to cut and from where, how to build and control the fire and when to stop the baking process. They use their senses to navigate, observing the smell of the steam and the colour of the fire. Although many Asian countries produce Binchotan, Kishu Binchotan is superior due to the potent combination of the best quality Japanese Oak and the generationsold craftsmanship used to turn it into White Charcoal. It’s from the last step of this process that ‘White Charcoal’ gets its name. To quickly stop the burning and trap the carbon the craftsmen roll the charcoal in a soft white ash thereby turning the charcoal, albeit temporarily, white.

Re-cycled energy

We love that after the charcoal has been dragged out of the killn , the heat is being reused for spa by locals. In Korea a fascinating spa tradition has been developed around the kilns celebrating the healing properties of the heat and the char – essence still present in the air.

The Danish brand Georg Jensen is currently displaying their jewellery using the beautiful Hakutan Installations from Sort of Coal at Harrods, Selfriges and New Bond Street in London..

A Hakutan is a natural ion charger, balancing the indoor environment by adsorbing odours and toxins thereby regulating humidity. BUT, it is also a very decorative and beautiful stem of white Charcoal handmade from Korean Oak.

To celebrate the natural beauty and magical ability of the Hakutan stem, Sort of Coal offers a 10% discount on our Hakutan Installation until 25th of June. The discount code is: Hakutan10

On a last note - DON'T FORGET OUR FACEBOOK SORT OF COAL GIVEAWAY! "CLICK HERE" to particiapate!

Thank you for caring for the environment - The Sort of Coal team, May 2012.

Just one unit of our white charcoal, Kishu Binchotan, costs € 23.50 / kr. 175.00/ $30 a unit, and that one Kishu Binchotan will purify 2-5 liters of water, turning ordinary tap water into fresh, great tasting mineral water - enough to enjoy daily at an average cost of about $1 a day for your entire month of hydration needs.

Aside from the financial benefits, the environmental justifications for drinking local water is equally compelling

The Kishu Binchotan is made from sustainable, natural materials and using them means you won’t add to the mountain of one-time use containers. Unlike the plastic bottles used for branded mineral waters, there is no additional product produced just to sell what you can have from your own taps. Drinking your local tap water made more healthful with Kishu Binchotan will also help lower the carbon tally of transporting plastic bottled waters around the globe.

SORT OF COAL GIVEAWAY!

To make it easier for you to try the Kishu Binchotan, we are giving away a year’s supply of Kishu Binchotan and a Mizu water bottle to one lucky winner.

Just go to our Facebook Page and "Like" and "Share" our "Act global - Drink local" post. A winner will be chosen randomly and announced on June 4th. Drink healthy!

Thank you for caring for the environment - The Sort of Coal team, May 2012.

Springtime is here and so is the time for indulging in healthy habits so that body and soul can meet spring in mint condition!

Sort of Coal is determined to make a difference and contribute to provide products with natural purifying abilities so that we all have the opportunity to lead healthy and sustainable lifes.

This month we proudly introduce you to a new member of our purifying White Charcoal family. Our KURO Powder now comes in a larger jar containing 100 grams for those who are using larger amounts regularly. The new jar is a web exclusive and the introductory price is 300 Dkk/50 € at our online store.

Kuro Powder is still one of our most effective cleansing products for your body (detox) and it is spot on for giving your food a dramatic black colour.

We have experimented with the KURO Powder and came up with these delicious Cream Puffs "flødeboller" to celebrate Easter.

Thank you for caring for the environment - The Sort of Coal team, April 2012.

March 22nd 2012 is UN World Water Day. This day marks the importance of protecting our natural water resources and to advocate for a sustainable global management of these.

Read more on: UN World Water Day

Why worry about water?

Pressure is mounting on the world’s freshwater resources, both through increased demand and supply degradation. These pressures are likely to increase in years ahead as the world population grow and rapid industrialization creates more water demands for e.g. food and energy production, all as climate change is bringing an additional challenge on global freshwater supplies.

Sort of Coal wants to contribute

Sort Of Coal recognize and appreciate the initiative of bringing water related risks into the spotlight. We believe it is an excellent opportunity to encourage dialog on how we can all contribute to ameliorate our consumption patterns and share ideas and solutions on how to protect the world water recourses.

We work hard to give everyone the opportunity to contribute to bring down consumption of bottled water. By providing natural charcoal products that can mineralise and cleanse tap water, we hope to be a participant and conveyer of the message and bring attention to the issue of waste and environmental costs of bottled water transportation.

This month Sort of Coal set focus on our powerful charcoal, the Kishu Binchotan. With a stick of Kishu Binchotan you can naturally turn any tap water into your own mineral water.

Let’s celebrate the day and toast in purified tap water!

Thank you for caring for the environment - The Sort of Coal team, March 2012.

Sort of Coal is at a stage of change

At Sort of Coal - we are at a stage of development, growth and change. We have moved into a new and beautiful office space near one of Copenhagen's most charming areas, Nyhavn (New Haven). The new office space is bigger and we all agree that it provides a better opportunity to inspire the company growth and helps showcase our products. At the same time we have re-designed our packaging using simple and pure black & white in order to compliment our products better.

Why you should "like" us

Another big change is the re-design of our website with a brand new online store. Along with the new website er thought it the perfect time to update the appearance of the Sort of Coal Facebook page. We always strive to make the design of the Sort of Coal products simple and stylish and we wanted our Facebook page to fit the part. Our new online store and activity on Facebook is our attempt to interact with you in a new and more personal way. We will try our hardest to make our Facebook page a valuable source of interesting, entertaining and useful content. We want to make the communication engaging and foremost relevant to you. This means that as our Facebook fan you will get exclusive access into the Sort of Coal universe, which will include:

- Exclusive access to ongoing campaigns.

- Early access to events.

- A unique look behind the scenes of Sort Of Coal. We aim to share our thoughts on what we find meaningful around us right now, what we find interesting and what excites us in form of relevant articles, trends and debates.

To make all of this a reality we need your help. We really hope that you will follow our progress and participate in discussions, competitions etc.

Thank you for caring for the environment - The Sort of Coal team, February 2012.

Is this a Pearl Necklace?

No and No!

This is a Binchotan Bead necklace made from the finest, hardest White Charcoal .

White Charcoal is the highest grade of charcoal available with an extremely high carbon content and gets its unlikely name from the manufacturing process it goes through. The surfaces of the beads have a naturally smooth finish and a precious shine. Up close, the fine lines of the wood can still be seen. The raw material is a hard Japanese oak and the Binchotan Bead Necklace is handmade in Korea. It is believed that wearing Binchotan next to the skin aids good blood circulation, regulates body temperature and improves moods.

Do you like it black? – We do!

Please visit our online store to purchase unique jewelery perfect for Valentines Day Thank you for caring for the environment - The Sort of Coal team, January 2012.

To celebrate the launch of our new online store, we offer friends of Sort Of Coal and our customers a christmas special of 10% discount on our best selling product: The Bincho

Sign up on our webstore here to get your discount code or on facebook to get your discount code.

At Sort Of Coal we feel it is our mission and obligation to raise awareness and knowledge about the use of activated white charcoal as a natural purifyier.
Please help us spread the word !

We design products that filtrate and cleanse tap water, keep fruit fresh by adsorbing ethylene, that adsorb odours and humidity and much more.

At Sort Of Coal, we are very concerned with the functionality and style of the packaging of our fragile products. At the same time, we strive to minimise the use of materials and consequently, environmental ressources spent on packaging.

Currently, we are in the proces of upgrading the looks and systems to protect our products. From December 1st, we introduce to you a brand new stylish functional tube to protect and present the bestselling Kishu Binchotan.

Sort Of Coal is collaborating with US distributor Product Partners to introduce our wonderful products on the US and Canadian market.

So far the interest in our products and their natural purifying abilities has been steadily growing in US/Canada.

Considering the low quality of tap water in the US, we expect the Sort Of Coal product KISHU BINCHOTANS and its amazing filtrating ability to cleanse and mineralise tap water to become the  most preferred, sustainable and stylish way to turn tap water into mineral water.

Visit productpartnersonline.com